Judisprudence and Detection in Ancient China

The Tang-Yin-Pi-Shih is a record of 144 criminal and civil court cases, judged in the courts of ancient China, spanning a period of some 1,400 years of the country's history, commencing approximately 300 BCE. During this period, China's judiciary was chosen from among the ranks of the country's scholar-officials, who, dispatched to various parts of the Empire often with little or no prior training in the legal arts, fulfilled the role of both investigative detective and court judge in the provincial centers of the land. Casebooks such as the Tang-Yin-Pi-Shih were thus essential tools of the appointees, providing guidance and precedence to which officials could refer, when the courts were confronted with challenging cases. Compiled in 1211 CE by Kuei Wan-jung, the author applies his prodigious linguistic skills to render the present translation both informative and highly entertaining.Van Gulik, Robert H. is the author of 'Judisprudence and Detection in Ancient China', published 2007 under ISBN 9789745240919 and ISBN 9745240915.